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EDITORIAL: Remembering Allen Farkas

Holocaust Remembrance at City Hall 2012 Allan Farkas (2nd from left) Wife Lillian (Center) *File Photo

Elizabeth Farkas (L) daughter of Holocaust Survivor Alan Farkas poses with Frieda Mehrel (R) whose grandfather was in the same Concentration Camp (Bergen-Belsen) as Anne Frank. Anne Frank died there in February 1945, at the age of 15. *File Photo by C. Maxwell

Allan Farkas & Herschel Chomsky at City Hall Circle 2012 *File Photo

On April 26, 2017, Herschel Chomsky came over to speak to me after the Perth Amboy Council Meeting had concluded.  Herschel Chomsky is instrumental in coordinating the event where Holocaust survivors speak of their experiences during the National Day of Remembrance which begins with a Israeli Flag Raising at City Hall Circle and then continues in the Council Chambers.

Mayor Wilda Diaz started having Holocaust Remembrance Programs held in City Hall.

Herschel wanted to remind me that the event would be taking place on May 1, 2017. He then hit me with some unexpected news when he told me that Allan Farkas, a Holocaust Survivor who spoke a few years ago, had passed away in December 2016.

I was there when Mr. Farkas and other survivors spoke very emotionally about the sufferings they and their family members endured.

It was such an emotional presentation that I also followed up the story with an editorial.

I would occasionally see Mr. Farkas and his daughter, Elizabeth on bus rides to A.C. They would sit in the back and enjoy very healthy snacks to eat on the way down. If I was sitting near them, they would offer to share some with me. Elizabeth was very protective of her father. On the ride down, Elizabeth would be on the phone speaking to her mother, then would pass the phone to her Dad.

Mr. Farkas was fond of reading one of the New York Daily Newspapers and when he finished he would offer it to anyone else who wanted to read it. He was one of the most genuine people I have ever met. He will not be forgotten. C.M.

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